


Baby Steps

by Morpheus626



Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25064131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morpheus626/pseuds/Morpheus626
Summary: A request from @funky-little-twinket on Tumblr: "Hey, I was wondering if you could do more sledgefu with the au where they adopted a baby, that fic was so cute!"
Relationships: Merriell "Snafu" Shelton/Eugene Sledge
Kudos: 8





	Baby Steps

**Author's Note:**

> A quick note that I’m bringing all the pets over to this AU (cats: Gunner, Queen, Little Sid, Delilah, and Deacon; dog: Ack Ack) though there’s enough that I can never seem to mention them all by name! But this is just here for reference so if I mention all the animals being in one room, y’all know how many we’re talking lol, especially if I write more for this AU after this piece (and I think I just might have to plan for that!)
> 
> Also I jumped ahead a bit so this fic puts their lil guy at about a year or so (aka guess who had to google what one year olds are capable of? This guy!) This also brought back some great memories of helping teach my lil cousins stuff when they were just teensy, so that was cool (because now they’re old and their older cousin aka me is boring to them lol.)

“Armand, let Ack Ack go,” Snafu said. “You wanna walk, you gotta do it on your own. You been so close to it lately, too!” 

“You think that’s gonna inspire him?” Eugene smiled as Armand let go of Ack Ack’s fur and pouted while Ack Ack walked over to settle on the couch. “Think you just pissed him off.” 

Armand dropped onto his bottom and let out a huff of breath. “Pa!” 

“Oh yeah, you did,” Eugene laughed. “He’s right though, your papa. You got standin’ down pat, and you can walk holdin’ onto things real good, but eventually you’re gonna be taller than Ack Ack and he won’t be able to help you walk round here. What’re you gonna do then?” 

Another huff of breath and a little pouted lip left them both laughing. 

“You just gonna live there now, waitin’ till one of us picks you up?” Snafu snickered as he walked over to sit in the chair by Eugene’s. “You can walk to one of us, c’mon. Try for us.” 

Armand shook his head, his dark curls bouncing. 

“Now, we ain’t raised you to act like that! You gotta at least try once, then you can get carried again. But I want you to keep tryin’, least once a day,” Snafu said, and held up a finger. 

Armand mimicked him, then promptly stuck his finger in his mouth and huffed again. 

“How the hell is he this sassy already? I thought they didn’t get like this till they were teenagers?” Snafu said, a hand out gesturing to Armand. “He can’t even tell me to fuck off and go runnin’ out with his friends, and here he is, little master of sass ceremonies, grumpy as can be.” 

Eugene tried and failed to bite back his laughter. “I think he did tell you that, actually, just in his own way.” 

“Probably,” Snafu sighed and shook his head. “Gimme one good try, okay buddy?” 

Armand whined and shook his head again, slapping the hardwood floor with his hands. 

“I don’t know if it’s gonna happen right now,” Eugene said, and started to stand to go pick him up.

“No, let him try first! He’s pissed, yeah, but maybe he’s just angry enough, ya know?” 

Eugene sat back down and nodded. “Okay. So you think he’ll get so mad neither of us are comin’ to get him, that he’s just gonna up and walk all the way over?” 

“No, course not,” Snafu replied. “But I bet he’ll get mad enough to stand, and maybe take a good few first steps all on his own, then one of us can go pick him up and we celebrate his doin’ that.” 

“…I could see that,” Eugene said. “What do you think, lil man? Got it in ya?” 

Armand almost growled, a tiny little screech of frustration, and slapped the floor again. 

“I think you can do it,” Snafu said, and the whining quieted some. 

“I think you can too,” Eugene added. “All you gotta do is try. Stand up, and I bet you’ll do it.” 

Armand’s face was a mix of emotions, confusion and fear and frustration as he slowly used his hands to push himself to standing, unsteady enough that Eugene edged to the end of his seat as Snafu did the same, both ready to run over and catch him. 

“That’s my boy! Now get those feet movin’. Don’t gotta be fast, or make it all the way over here, we’ll get to that later,” Snafu said softly. “Just a few good steps.” 

Armand whined and let out the softest little sobs as he took one shaky step towards them, then another, before starting to wobble face-first towards the floor. 

But they were there in a flash, each holding onto him before he could hit the floor. 

“I told you! Didn’t I tell you? I did!” Snafu was ecstatic as he picked Armand up and kissed his cheek. “My boy! Gonna be runnin’ all over the place before you know it!” 

Armand’s smile was sweet to see, his giggling even better as he babbled happily.

“We told you,” Eugene smiled, and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Armand’s curls. “And it was fun, wasn’t it? You get better at it, and soon you’ll be raisin’ hell makin’ us chase after you every day.” 

“Yah,” Armand grinned, and they both laughed. 

“Alright, I said you’d be carried now, and I won’t break a promise to ya,” Snafu said, and started to walk back to his chair. 

But Armand kicked his little legs and fussed, and Snafu turned back to Eugene with a grin of his own. 

“You wanna try again? Maybe we can help you this time, hm?” 

That was their afternoon from there, taking turns letting Armand walk by holding onto their hands, staying close as he tried again and again to take a few shaky steps all on his own. He might not actually be running around like Flash any time soon, but he’d certainly get there, with practice like this. 

“The backache is worth it,” Snafu said later, as they put Armand down for the night. “Look at how tuckered out he is.” 

It was a good hour earlier than Armand usually went down, but all the walking and standing and stumbling seemed to have worn him right out. He didn’t wake even as Eugene put him into his crib in the corner of their room, only sighed as his head rested on the soft crib mattress. 

“He is, and so am I,” Eugene yawned. “Dunno how, but I am.” 

“Hard work, convincin’ a little man he can do whatever he sets his mind to,” Snafu murmured and put his hand around Eugene’s waist, his head resting on Eugene’s shoulder. “Plus, the bending over…” 

“Oh my god, the middle of my back is just…numb, it hurts so damn bad,” Eugene sighed in exasperation. “I mean I’ll do it all again in a heartbeat for him tomorrow if he wants, anything to help him get a better grasp on walkin’, but lord have mercy.” 

“I know,” Snafu replied. “Actually why I’m just stayin’ like this…can kinda lean, we can keep each other up.” 

“We gotta move now though,” Eugene said. “Gotta finish cleanin’ up the house before we can go to bed…” 

Snafu lifted his head and nodded. “Could do. Or, hear me out, we leave all those chores for the morning, finish the dishes and wipin’ down the counters and whatever else tomorrow, and for now we go to bed before our backs decide we aren’t allowed to stay upright anymore?” 

A cramp hit Eugene’s back and he groaned quietly, not wanting to wake the baby. “Okay, yeah, you’ve won me over. Very persuasive today, you are.” 

“Think the pain might be doin’ more persuadin’, but I’ll take the compliment,” Snafu smiled as he helped Eugene over to the bed. “You stay put, I’ll go make sure the lights are off downstairs, the furry kids are all settled in the guest room, and when I come back I’ll help you outta those clothes.” 

“Snaf, he might wake up…” 

“Not like that! I mean, unless you think you can stay up long enough for that, in which case, hell yeah. But I meant more because I could feel that cramp in your back, and I know your ass can’t get undressed without help right now,” Snafu smirked. 

Eugene just laughed as Snafu walked out of the room, and he let himself flop back on their bed while he waited for Snafu to return. It was quiet now, just the sound of Armand’s soft breathing and his own muffled mutters of pain as his back twinged. 

He’d never trade anything for it though, the moment or his life as it was now, despite the pains big and small that he’d gone through to get there. It was perfect and unique and utterly his and Snafu’s and Armand’s, and that was exactly how he liked it.


End file.
